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Car Forum / Pontiac / Pontiac Fiero / December 2005It's mine,,, big grin
I purchased an 88 Formula Fiero this afternoon. Was one of the higher mile cars I looked at but is pretty tight all and all. Looks pretty good too! Need to fiddle with the clutch a bit but I am sure it is a matter of pedal throw etc. No slippage at all, very strong. I will post a picture or two of my new baby on my site tomorrow. LET THE TINKERING BEGIN!!!!!! I want to thank you guys for the advice given over the last week! I actually had one couple say "man you really know these Fiero's",,, heh,, Fact is, I never even sat in one before last week. If they had done a little research and had help from a group like this they may have never wanted to sell their cars! Thanks again guys! -- From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river David Bosworth http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/hovercrafts.html > I purchased an 88 Formula Fiero this afternoon. Was one of the higher mile > cars I looked at but is pretty tight all and all. Looks pretty good too! [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Thanks again guys! Congrats! My first running Fiero was, and is, a Formula. Mine was knocking like a banshee and had all sorts of problems but it cleaned up ok with a new motor. Don't forget to swing by Pennock's Fiero Forum sometime at http://www.fiero.nl. JazzMan  Signature********************************************************** Please reply to jsavage"at"airmail.net. Curse those darned bulk e-mailers! ********************************************************** "Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry ********************************************************** -- From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river David Bosworth http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/hovercrafts.html > > I purchased an 88 Formula Fiero this afternoon. Was one of the higher mile > > cars I looked at but is pretty tight all and all. Looks pretty good too! [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > JazzMan Ah, then your the man to ask my next question to. I was hunting for exhaust parts on E-bay and came across a Y pipe, it says that it is only for an 88. Is there a difference between these 6 cylinders and the other years? I have an exhaust leak and it is somewhere under the heat shielding, can I cut that stuff off? and is there some kind of tape to get it back on if and when I do? I want to get a handle on the clutch before I disable the engine. I have checked out Pennock's lot's of good info there but I prefer the news reader format with outlook that I use for this group. > -- > ********************************************************** [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry > ********************************************************** > -- > From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river [quoted text clipped - 57 lines] > I have checked out Pennock's lot's of good info there but I prefer the news > reader format with outlook that I use for this group. Yes, the 88 y-pipe is different (slightly) from the other years of v-6. The rest of the engine is pretty much the same. The y-pipe for the 88 is slightly shorter and the flange that bolts it to the rest of the exaust is at a different angle. My 88 Formula's y-pipe cracked at the colector (where the two sides merged). I swapped on the entire exaust from my old 85 GT. But now I don't have a good exaust for my 85 :( Signature======================================== Todd Zuercher mailto:tzuercher@earthlink.net ======================================== -- From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river David Bosworth http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/hovercrafts.html "Todd Zuercher" <tzuercher@earthlink.net> wrote in message > > Yes, the 88 y-pipe is different (slightly) from the other years of v-6. > The rest of the engine is pretty much the same. The y-pipe for the 88 [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Todd Zuercher > mailto:tzuercher@earthlink.net Thanks for the info. Well pay now or pay later. Odd's are - you've got a leaking exhaust manifold gasket on the front side, or even MORE likely is that the manifold has cracked up there. It's a REALLY common problem. To do an effective repair, you have to pull the manifold off then bolt it to another head (!!!!) and weld it. Or just replace it. Make sure to use the Felpro MS93045 gaskets, or you'll hate yourself in 1-2 weeks. :) > I have an exhaust leak and it is somewhere under the heat shielding, can I > cut that stuff off? and is there some kind of tape to get it back on if > and > when I do? I want to get a handle on the clutch before I disable the > engine. I am still hoping I may get lucky. Yes do it right the first time and you'll save yourself from having to do another poor job later! heh -- From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river David Bosworth http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/hovercrafts.html > Odd's are - you've got a leaking exhaust manifold gasket on the front side, > or even MORE likely is that the manifold has cracked up there. It's a [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > when I do? I want to get a handle on the clutch before I disable the > > engine. > Ah, then your the man to ask my next question to. I was hunting for exhaust > parts on E-bay and came across a Y pipe, it says that it is only for an 88. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > cut that stuff off? and is there some kind of tape to get it back on if and > when I do? I want to get a handle on the clutch before I disable the engine. The V6 motor is basically the same for all the Fieros, with minor differences. The exhaust manifolds are the same as other years, the crossover is fairly different as well as the rest of the exhaust system. The most common exhaust problem is a cracked forward manifold, they typically crack where the tubes for cylinder numbers four and six are welded to the main collector tube. The manifolds are made of 410 stainless and require welding with 100% argon or 98-2 using 309 for a filler metal. This weld spec is easiest to do with a TIG setup. The flanges need to be bolted to a spare cylinder head, any iron 2.8 head will work, they're common as dirt. After welding the flanges will need to e trued up on a belt sander. The other less common failure is a crack in the crossover itself, where the two tubes join. Use a piece of tubing as a stethoscope to absolutely confirm the leak, because I can tell you from experience that spending 14 hours changing a manifold only to discover it was a cracked crossover that took 30 minutes to change is not conducive to a good mood. JazzMan Signature********************************************************** Please reply to jsavage"at"airmail.net. Curse those darned bulk e-mailers! ********************************************************** "Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry ********************************************************** -- From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river David Bosworth http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/hovercrafts.html > > Ah, then your the man to ask my next question to. I was hunting for exhaust > > parts on E-bay and came across a Y pipe, it says that it is only for an 88. [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > JazzMan >********** Well, I need to dig around in there to find anything out so the first thing I need to do is remove the heat shielding that is wrapped around the Y pipe. I guess I will figure out how to get it back on later, or is it really needed? Ok, I just went out there with a flashlight so that I could better describe where the leak is blowing out. It is blowing out down the pipe that connects the Y To the pipe going to the muffler inside the shielding. While doing this I found the flange coupler loose on the connection from the forward manifold to the Y pipe. The manifold felt good. Maybe I am going to get lucky and just need a donut A shop put in a new water pump last summer for the last owner so maybe they botched it when reassembling it. > -- > From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > manifold to the Y pipe. The manifold felt good. Maybe I am going to get > lucky and just need a donut The heat shielding is very important, it drastically lowers underhood temps and prolongs the life of the distributor module, coil, and other underhood parts. The heatshield assembly is crimp welded on the joint between the pieces, removing it with the intent of saving it will require removing the crossover. It's not that hard to remove the crossover assuming the bolts that hold it to the manifolds aren't rusted too badly. If the crossover is cracked it will need replacing because rewelding it is nearly impossible due to the design. Unfortunately your description appears to describe a crossover failure. Dropping the front of the exhaust to inspect the donut would be a good idea before removing the whole crossover. JazzMan Signature********************************************************** Please reply to jsavage"at"airmail.net. Curse those darned bulk e-mailers! ********************************************************** "Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry ********************************************************** -- From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river David Bosworth http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/hovercrafts.html > > -- > > [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > JazzMan ***** Thanks, You are a fountain of information! I will report back the findings. David As it turns out I think the Y pipe is fine. The whole exhaust off the manifolds was loose. I pulled back some of the heat shielding enough to get my fingers in there and could not feel any breach in the pipe and the bolts I managed to tighten helped quiet things down a lot. With the shielding peeled back it no longer shot exhaust out by the down tube. The two flange bolts on the firewall side are rounded and I cannot get any bite on them at all, funny but they are a different size (smaller) than on the front flange, little 8mm jobs. As most of you know this is not the most accessible area, any tricks I might try before bending over at the auto shop? -- From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river David Bosworth http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/hovercrafts.html > -- > From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > > David I posted some pictures of the car at http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/FormulaFiero/ -- From the rocky shores of the Skykomish river David Bosworth http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/hovercrafts.html > I purchased an 88 Formula Fiero this afternoon. Was one of the higher mile > cars I looked at but is pretty tight all and all. Looks pretty good too! [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Thanks again guys! > I posted some pictures of the car at > http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/FormulaFiero/ I looked at your website, email me at my address below for comments. :) JazzMan Signature********************************************************** Please reply to jsavage"at"airmail.net. Curse those darned bulk e-mailers! ********************************************************** "Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry ********************************************************** >I posted some pictures of the car at > http://www.premier1.net/~daveb/FormulaFiero/ you should at least win a free drink mk5000 "planned obsolescence has been a crucial part of the American consumer dynamic since at least the 1920's, when General Motors began to design one year's model with the goal of making last year's seem out of date"--rob walker |
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